The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is expected to award a $120 million multiyear contract to support clinical trials of immune tolerance.
The announcement of the trials was made by First Lady Hillary Clinton in conjunction with the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International. "This initiative is a continuation of this administration's commitment to curing juvenile diabetes…If successful, this could solve many of the obstacles to safe and effective organ and tissue transplantation and cure autoimmune diseases like diabetes," she said.
The NIAID Network for Clinical Research on Immune Tolerance will develop and conduct clinical trials of new therapies that promise to diminish or eliminate the need for antirejection therapy in patients who have received transplants of pancreatic islet cells. The same medications possibly could stop or prevent the autoimmune reaction that is responsible for destroying the insulin-producing islet cells in type 1 diabetes and could be effective in other autoimmune diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis, according to the foundation.
"The NIAID Network for Clinical Research on Immune Tolerance will bring cutting-edge immunology research and promising therapies to people with diabetes and other autoimmune diseases," said Anthony S Fauci, MD, director of the NIAID.
For Your Information:
Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International news release
http://www.jdf.org/pubinfo/news060799.html
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